Well, I Went to My Local Record Store on Record Store Day Today

I drove to McHenry, Illinois, just a few hours ago and visited my usual mom and pop record store, The Vinyl Frontier.  I always thought that was a great name for a record store.  Quite catchy.

However, this year, the store was not participating.  Evidently there is a $1500 cost involved to be in it, and business has been so bad thanks to you-know-what, they are sitting this one out.

However, I did what I was going to do anyway and that was buy at least one album and five CDs.

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ALBUM

K-Tel Hit Machine  ($3)  1976  Those old K-Tel and Ronco collection albums were a great way to build up your record collection cheaply.  They usually had at least 20 songs.

Some of the ones on this album:

Shake Your Booty--  K.C. & Sunshine Band
Summer-- War
When Will I be Loved--  Linda Ronstadt
Disco Duck--  Rick Dees

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CDs  The Vinyl Frontier always has a 5 for $20 special.

**Nuggets from Nuggets  Great Garage Rock.

**  The Copulation Compilation  Including "The Rodeo Song" and "The I-95 Song"

**  American Beauty--  Grateful Dead  I loved their studio albums, but hated their shows, but I hate jamming.

**  Some Girls--  Rolling Stones

**  Electric Barnyard--  Kentucky Headhunters

I Did My Part for the Mom and Pop Record Stores.  --RoadDog

PONDER THIS:  The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.  Amen to that!

Ronco's Been Sliced and Diced- So Much for Those 50-Year Guarantees

The June 16th Chicago Tribune Business section reports that Ron Popeil's empire has filed for bankruptcy in California. Good old Ron sold Ronco two years ago for around $55 million, and the new owners still owe him almost $12 million. Other major creditors are the Food Network, QVC, and Court TV, where much of the advertising was done.

Over the years, Ronco, based in Simi Valley, Ca, has sold $1.4 billion worth of products, $19.99 and $39.99 at a time, "but wait, there's more..." Ron started it in 1964.

It also went through another bankruptcy in the 1980s.

Thanks to Ron Popeil's personal sales pitch, such terms as Ronco, Popeil, and o-matic have become a part of pop culture. "...how much would you pay now?"

He first sold inventions of his father, S.J. Popeil: Veg-o-Matic and Popeil's Pocket Fisherman. Then, in the 70s, he developed products of his own: Ginsu Knives and Armorcote non-stick pans. Obviously, he got big into the infomercial scene in the 1990s. Other products were the compact rotissiere, food hydrators, the bagel-cutter, and Dial-o-Matic.

I believe that at one time, they sold collections of popular music similar to today's NOW CDs, but, of course, they were albums. This was in competition with K-Tel. Anybody remember those good old K-Tel albums with ten songs on a side.

You can watch classic Ronco spiels at www.biography.com.

Hey, Ron, How Much Postage I Gotta Pay? --RoadDog